I am surprised it has taken this long, to tell the truth. I have been to auction after auction and seen first hand how they operate and have mentioned it a couple of times.
As Buyers Agents, they SHOULD be looking out for a good deal for their purchasers, but the reality is that they look for homes in original condition that don't need too much work done to them. ANY home that fits that criteria is a prime target, but especially if it goes to auction.
At the auction, they will win it. Regardless of price! Mind you, at these auctions, it is usually only them bidding against other investors. It is extremely rare for a home buyer to be bidding, but in saying that, some of the newer investors will bid for a lot more $ than a more experienced investor would, and Property Secrets will go higher again.
Of course, as Buyers Agents, they charge a fee for this. But that isn't the real sting! The sting in the tail is the reno that the properties have to have.
A reno will usually cost around $35-$40k. It is a cookie-cutter reno! They are all the same! You get a paint, both inside & out!, a new kitchen, nothing fancy, but serviceable, new floor coverings, or a polish, a quick tidy up of the outside if required and new hot water system & pipes (if the ferals have stolen them).
Just doing the sums, should tell you that the reno service is overpriced!
In the early days, it didn't seem that bad. They could pick up the home for $170-180k, do the reno & reval for $260k. This is of course, well before they started building Granny's.
The Granny's are another story! The 'For Let" pictures in the paper show you that they are all similar too, so it makes sense that he's getting some kickbacks there as well. They are basic box's. Not prefab, but have that 'look' about them. You get a box, a fence, a path, etc, but nothing fancy. They are obviously Granny's. Not that there's anything wrong with that, it's just that if I was going to put a Granny up, I'd want to make it look like a small house, not an obvious box, plonked in the backyard.
